Asia Cup 2022: [In Pictures] BCCI shares snapshots of Rohit Sharma-led India’s training session ahead of high-octane clash vs Pakistan
Ahead of their high-voltage clash against arch-rivals Pakistan, Rohit Sharma and Co. are working hard in the nets to make sure they put their best foot forward in their opening match of the 2022 Asia Cup.
The Indian cricket team is looking to leave no stone unturned to avenge the unexpected 10-wicket loss to Pakistan they suffered in the ICC T20 World Cup last year.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday (August 26) shared several snapshots of the Men in Blue during their practice session.
Taking to Twitter, the BCCI shared 10 pictures of Indian players at the ICC Cricket Academy in Dubai. The snapshots can be seen below:
The top three batters in the Indian team - captain Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli will be looking to give a decent platform for the middle-order to showcase their power game in the death overs.
The failure of the top-order was one of the decisive factors in India's loss to Pakistan last year in the T20 World Cup. Shaheen Shah Afridi's opening spell had dented India severely in that contest. This time, the Men in Blue won't have to deal with the left-armer as he has been ruled out of the Asia Cup with an injury.
India's batting order has been performing well over the last few months in both the white ball formats. This is partially due to the emergence of new stars in the team, such as Suryakumar Yadav. Also, Rishabh Pant is finally beginning to live up to expectations in the shorter formats also.
Rohit Sharma-led India are placed in Group A of the Asia Cup 2022 alongside Pakistan and Hong Kong.
Rohit Sharma chasing his second Asia Cup trophy
The Men in Blue have won the tournament seven times, including the last two editions, in 2016 and 2018, in the T20 and ODI formats respectively. India captain Rohit Sharma, who guided India to the Asia Cup 2018 title, is aiming for his second trophy as skipper.
The Asia Cup serves as a big opportunity for all the players to prepare for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in Australia in September-October.
India’s squad for the Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan.
Standby list of players: Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, and Deepak Chahar.